EP0806899B1 - Device for destacking and conveying sticks in an apparatus for inserting sticks in ice-cream bodies - Google Patents

Device for destacking and conveying sticks in an apparatus for inserting sticks in ice-cream bodies Download PDF

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Publication number
EP0806899B1
EP0806899B1 EP95908887A EP95908887A EP0806899B1 EP 0806899 B1 EP0806899 B1 EP 0806899B1 EP 95908887 A EP95908887 A EP 95908887A EP 95908887 A EP95908887 A EP 95908887A EP 0806899 B1 EP0806899 B1 EP 0806899B1
Authority
EP
European Patent Office
Prior art keywords
sticks
rotor
destacking
carrier
ice
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Expired - Lifetime
Application number
EP95908887A
Other languages
German (de)
English (en)
French (fr)
Other versions
EP0806899A1 (en
Inventor
Ole Morch
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
NTC Engineering APS
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NTC Engineering APS
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Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by NTC Engineering APS filed Critical NTC Engineering APS
Publication of EP0806899A1 publication Critical patent/EP0806899A1/en
Application granted granted Critical
Publication of EP0806899B1 publication Critical patent/EP0806899B1/en
Anticipated expiration legal-status Critical
Expired - Lifetime legal-status Critical Current

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Classifications

    • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
    • A23—FOODS OR FOODSTUFFS; TREATMENT THEREOF, NOT COVERED BY OTHER CLASSES
    • A23G—COCOA; COCOA PRODUCTS, e.g. CHOCOLATE; SUBSTITUTES FOR COCOA OR COCOA PRODUCTS; CONFECTIONERY; CHEWING GUM; ICE-CREAM; PREPARATION THEREOF
    • A23G9/00—Frozen sweets, e.g. ice confectionery, ice-cream; Mixtures therefor
    • A23G9/04—Production of frozen sweets, e.g. ice-cream
    • A23G9/22—Details, component parts or accessories of apparatus insofar as not peculiar to a single one of the preceding groups
    • A23G9/26—Details, component parts or accessories of apparatus insofar as not peculiar to a single one of the preceding groups for producing frozen sweets on sticks
    • A23G9/265—Details, component parts or accessories of apparatus insofar as not peculiar to a single one of the preceding groups for producing frozen sweets on sticks for manipulating the sticks

Definitions

  • the present invention relates to a device of the kind set forth in the preamble of claim 1. Further, the invention relates to the use of such a device in an apparatus for inserting sticks in ice-cream bodies.
  • Danish Patent Application No. 1832/86 discloses an apparatus of the kind referred to.
  • the apparatus according to Danish Patent Application No. 1832/86 is intended to be able to function even with deformed sticks.
  • the sticks are to be pushed directly into the pockets under the action of a force applied through the stack. For this reason, this force will be continuously exerted against the belt, causing wear of the latter.
  • the pockets formed in the belt to have a depth not exceeding the thickness of a stick in order to be able to destack one stick at a time, problems may arise in making the pockets hold sticks that are not quite straight.
  • a general problem when using chains for destacking sticks is that these chains are subject to wear, causing particles to be transferred to the sticks and hence to the ice-cream bodies, especially when using chains of plastic material. For this reason it will be necessary to make the chains from wear-resisting material, typically stainless steel, in order to reduce the transfer of particles to a level compatible with the increasingly strict requirements relating to transfer of particles to food-stuffs, e.g. from the so-called HACCP directive coming into force in the European union in January 1996.
  • wear-resisting material typically stainless steel
  • the destacking and carrier means as a sliding carriage running back and forth between the positions for receiving and delivering the sticks.
  • the sliding carriage comprises pockets for the sticks having an oblique edge facing in the direction of forward movement and a mainly perpendicular edge facing opposite to the direction of forward movement.
  • the tracks guiding the sliding carriage cause problems, as dirt may collect in them and disturb the operation, and if e.g. the dirt collects in the form of a layer in the guide track and lifts the sliding carriage, the sticks may be placed in positions offset from those desired. Still further, if the guides are twisted, e.g. caused by re-adjustment of the machine, e.g. when moving machine components, the movement of the sliding carriage may be changed and/or prevented, such as by jamming.
  • a further example of a method of destacking sticks may be seen in US-A-4,323,336.
  • the sticks are destacked singly by means of two oppositely placed helix wheels penetrating in between the sticks at the ends of the latter and conveying the sticks to a carrier belt and transferring them to the latter.
  • this method of destacking and conveying of sticks there is likewise a limit to the rates that may be achieved, and sticks that are skewed or deformed in some other way may cause problems.
  • the destacking element e.g. the destacking rotor, against which the stack of sticks lies in abutment, in durable material, that does not need to be flexible and is highly wear-resistant and has a low inertia.
  • the destacking rotor may destack the sticks by an abutment surface constituted by the periphery of the rotor supporting the stick or the stack of sticks in the forward direction of movement of the stack, and when during the rotation of the rotor a recess moves past the stack, the forwardmost stick will slide into the recess, in which the stick is supported in the direction of rotation of the rotor and moved on by the latter.
  • the destacking rotor may be constructed with abutment surfaces capable of supporting the stick or the stack of sticks in the forward direction of motion of the stack, and likewise support the stick in the direction of rotation of the rotor with the requisite force without any need for complicated supports and joints in the form of tracks and/or linkages, because the destacking rotor is supported at its axis, i.a. causing low friction and a reduced risk of contamination, while achieving great strength.
  • the sticks are not to be clamped in the rotor, the latter solely being required to support the sticks in one plane at a time in contact with the sticks, external guide means possibly providing support in other planes, e.g. at the outside of the destacking rotor, and thus providing support in a further plane or other planes, respectively, if necessary.
  • This support in the external plane may e.g. be provided by a band, a belt or a track, such as in the manner known from the use of a wheel in a singling-out mechanism described in US-A-3,478,703.
  • the frictional resistance and the tangential force may possibly provide the requisite support.
  • the sticks will have a relatively longer time in which to move through the distance from the initial position in the stack of sticks and into the recess, the latter being larger than the width of the stick, and the depth of the second support plane increases gradually relative to the direction of rotation inwards to the edge constituting the first support plane.
  • the destacking rotor when the destacking rotor is constituted by two cylindrical parts with an axial interspace supporting the stick in two segments, the destacking rotor will be insensitive to skewed or otherwise distorted parts outside of the two supporting segments.
  • the destacking rotor Because of the simple construction of the destacking rotor, it may in a relatively uncomplicated manner be made from wear-resisting material, e.g. with two discs in stainless steel.
  • the destacking rotor can run in the same direction all the time, possibly intermittently, so that this simple construction makes it possible to achieve high operating rates.
  • the destacking rotor may also have more than one recess.
  • this construction it is not necessary to provide an intermediate store adjacent to the ice-cream moulds, and there is also no loss of time by having to run the wheel or carrier back and forth, e.g. as disclosed in US-A-4,105,384.
  • the destacking rotor transfers the sticks to a carrier belt, making it possible to construct the latter with deeper pockets and/or taller fingers, and/or with supports in two surfaces separated in the longitudinal direction of the sticks, thus improving the holding of skewed sticks. This makes it possible to lower the demands upon the tolerances for the sticks. As the sticks are transferred directly down into the pockets in the carrier belt, the latter is not subjected to a continuously acting force from the stack of sticks, so that wear of the belt is reduced.
  • the pockets will be open, making it easier to place the sticks in position in the pockets.
  • the invention also provides the possibility of modernizing existing equipment without extensive conversion.
  • Figure 1 shows an apparatus for inserting sticks into ice-lolly bodies.
  • the sticks to be inserted are delivered from a feed bin 1 to a feed chain 2, the latter conveying the sticks outwardly to a stacking device 3 guided by a guide rail 4, so that the sticks are pushed upwardly into a stick guide P.
  • the stack of sticks runs through a twisted segment 5, causing the sticks to change orientation relative to the feed bin 1, the latter being oriented in the longitudinal direction of the conveyor 13 shown diagrammatically in order to save space. From the segment 5, the stick guide P continues in a stick arch 6.
  • This stick arch 6 may be arranged as a buffer store by making the arch 6 capable of parallel movement in the vertical direction, thus lengthening or shortening the path, through which the sticks are to run, and hence increasing or reducing the number of sticks in the stack.
  • the stick guide P leads to a destacking rotor 7.
  • the stick arch 6 and the stick guide P are terminated by an exit aperture 12 facing the rotor 7 and from which the latter can remove the sticks one by one.
  • the destacking rotor 7 comprises at least one recess for removing sticks, said recess in the example shown constituting a support for each stick in two planes.
  • the first plane is represented by a short, substantially radial step with a depth greater or lesser than the thickness of one stick. This depth may be adapted for removing two sticks without causing jamming of the latter.
  • the other support plane is constituted by a plane mainly in the form of a truncated chordal plane to an imaginary cylinder coaxial with the rotor 7, the truncation coinciding with the first support plane, said two planes being at substantially right angles to each other.
  • this clearance may e.g. amount to 1.5 mm or less.
  • the device (not shown) guiding the sticks about the rotor 7 may be made with tolerances relative to the rotor 7 substantially exceeding the thickness of the sticks.
  • a stick to be separated from the stack will initially bear against the stick guide P in the direction of rotation of the rotor 7 and against the periphery of the latter in the direction of movement of the stack of sticks.
  • the rotor 7 rotates, and the recess, beginning with the chordal plane constituted by the second support plane, arrives at a position below the stack of sticks, the stick will be pushed out from the stack into the recess, and after additional rotation of the rotor 7 it will be caught by the latter's abutment step represented by the first plane.
  • the device guiding the sticks about the rotor 7 may e.g. be secured to the stick guide P at the exit aperture 12 and possibly support the sticks in more than one plane, e.g. at an outer and inner periphery relative to the rotor 7, e.g. in such a manner that the stick after having been supported by the periphery of the rotor slides into the latter's recess, until it encounters a support being fixed relative to the exit aperture 12.
  • This does not, however, mean that the tolerance requirements with regard to the position of the destacking rotor 7 are increased, the closest positional tolerances of the latter still preferably being relative to the exit aperture 12.
  • the destacking rotor 7 By constructing the destacking rotor 7 in the form of two discs as shown, and by constructing the device (not shown) guiding the sticks about the rotor 7 in the form of rails axially offset relative to the discs of the rotor, sticks e.g. being highly warped and getting jammed between the rotor 7 and the device guiding the sticks about it will be broken and ejected by the rotor 7, thus avoiding a situation leading to the operation being interrupted.
  • the destacking rotor 7 moves the stick downwardly to a position aligned with an ejector driven by an ejector cylinder 10.
  • the rotor 7 may either be driven intermittently, so that the rotor stops when the stick is in an ejecting or delivery position in front of the ice-lolly body, after which the stick is pushed into the latter, or the rotor 7 may be driven continuously, so that the stick is ejected in a delivery position in front of the ice-lolly body and from there pushed into the latter.
  • its recess may advantageously be provided with a stick-supporting device at the outer periphery, e.g. in the form of a cam or an arm protruding beyond a part of the recess, said support during rotation retaining the stick against the tangential force, so that external guides for the sticks adjacent to the rotor 7 will be unnecessary.
  • the destacking rotor 7 may have one or a number of recesses, e.g. four as in the example shown; with this arrangement, the sticks may be moved to the ejectors at a faster rate. Since the ejector 10 is not required to carry out a separating operation, its abutment surface, with which it pushes the stick into the ice-lolly body, may have a width and a height corresponding to or greater than the thickness and width, respectively, of the stick, so as to ensure that the ejector does not act upon the stick in a chisel-like manner and splinters it. In the example shown, the ice-lolly bodies, after having received the sticks, are conveyed further by the conveyor 13.
  • Figure 2 shows an apparatus for inserting sticks in ice-lolly bodies, in which a number of ice-lolly bodies at a time are provided with sticks.
  • the conveying of the sticks to the destacking rotor 7 and the guiding of the sticks about the latter proceeds in the same manner as in the example described above.
  • the destacking rotor 7 delivers the sticks to a carrier belt 8 provided with pockets or fingers holding the sticks during the further conveying.
  • the fingers or pockets may have a suitable height for holding the sticks securely, since the height does not need to be adapted to the destacking function, this being taken care of by the destacking rotor 7.
  • the fingers or pockets may have a height dimension substantially exceeding the thickness of a stick.
  • the sticks are deposited in the pockets of the carrier belt, when these pockets are in an upper position. Then, the sticks are moved upwardly/downwardly by the carrier belt 8 to delivery positions aligned with the ice-lolly bodies, after which the sticks are pushed into these bodies.
  • the sticks may be held securely in the pockets or between the fingers by the latter clamping the sticks, or by using guide rails supporting the sticks where necessary, i.e. in the embodiment shown at the circular periphery and the lower run of the carrier belt.
  • the carrier belt 8 and the destacking rotor 7 may be driven intermittently and/or continuously, e.g. in such a manner that the carrier belt 8 and the destacking rotor 7 run continuously while the latter is depositing the sticks in the former, and are stopped while the sticks are being pushed into the ice-lolly bodies.
  • the movements of the destacking rotor 7 and the carrier belt 8 may be synchronized by means of a mechanical gear interconnecting the rotor 7 and the belt 8, but may also be carried out by electronic control.
  • a quick and reliable destacking of the sticks is achieved, as well as a quick and reliable depositing of the sticks, either in a delivery position aligned to the ice-lolly bodies, or in the pockets of a carrier.
  • This is especially advantageous with intermittent operation, as the destacking of the sticks may often be considered as pure downtime relative to the operation of the remaining components of the apparatus.
  • the sticks having been deposited on the carrier belt 8 are guided downwardly to the lower run of the belt. It is, however, also possible to let the sticks be guided in the upper run. If so, the rotor 7 is turned around and its direction of rotation reversed. When the sticks are guided along and pushed out from the upper run, the pockets or fingers may have larger openings in or between them, respectively, so that the sticks lie loosely on the belt without there being any need for guide rails.
  • An extra feed bin with a destacking rotor (not shown) corresponding to the rotor 7 could possibly be added at the opposite end of the carrier belt 8, so that the rotor at this opposite end may deposit the sticks on the carrier belt in the same manner as described previously. It is also possible to reverse the direction of movement of the belt, if the extra bin is used as a replacement for the first bin 1.
  • the destacking rotor 7 itself may be made of a material having good wear properties, such as metal, plastic etc. If a carrier belt 8 is used, it may be made of a suitable flexible material, and it does not need to have special wear surfaces. At the same time, the belt may have taller fingers or deeper pockets, so that especially deformed sticks can be held more securely than with the previously known belts.
  • the carrier belt 8 may advantageously be constructed as a toothed belt which may have embedded steel bands or steel wires in order to provide it with a high dimensional stability in the longitudinal direction.
  • the pockets or fingers may be secured adhesively, by welding, possibly high-frequency welding etc.
  • the carrier belt it is possible to adapt the carrier belt to the sticks and ice moulds used at any time by attaching pockets or fingers to a base belt, that may be a commercially available standard belt.
  • a base belt that may be a commercially available standard belt.
  • the only adaptation to be carried out relates to the shape and placing of the pockets or fingers, in contrast to chains or sliding carriages, frequently requiring the whole chain or carriage to be tailored to fit with each task.
  • the apparatus may be adapted for use with differently shaped sticks and/or ice moulds, merely by replacing the carrier belt 8 and/or the destacking rotor 7 with a different belt and/or rotor, respectively.
  • the belt 8 may be made of a flexible material and the rotor 7 may be made from a wear-resisting non-flexible material, at the same time as the apparatus is reliable when operating at high operating rates.
  • the feeding and guiding of the sticks may, of course, be achieved in a manner differing from what is shown and described.
  • the essential feature is that the sticks are delivered to the rotor from a stack of sticks.
  • Other examples of stick bins and stick-guiding arrangements may be seen in the publications referred to.
  • the supporting in the third plane adjacent to the rotor may be realized in different ways, e.g. using detachable belts as shown for a stick-destacking rotor in US-A-3,478,703.

Landscapes

  • Life Sciences & Earth Sciences (AREA)
  • Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Food Science & Technology (AREA)
  • Polymers & Plastics (AREA)
  • Confectionery (AREA)
  • Specific Conveyance Elements (AREA)
EP95908887A 1995-01-26 1995-01-26 Device for destacking and conveying sticks in an apparatus for inserting sticks in ice-cream bodies Expired - Lifetime EP0806899B1 (en)

Applications Claiming Priority (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
PCT/DK1995/000038 WO1996022697A1 (en) 1995-01-26 1995-01-26 Device for destacking and conveying sticks in an apparatus for inserting sticks in ice-cream bodies

Publications (2)

Publication Number Publication Date
EP0806899A1 EP0806899A1 (en) 1997-11-19
EP0806899B1 true EP0806899B1 (en) 1999-04-07

Family

ID=8155061

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
EP95908887A Expired - Lifetime EP0806899B1 (en) 1995-01-26 1995-01-26 Device for destacking and conveying sticks in an apparatus for inserting sticks in ice-cream bodies

Country Status (6)

Country Link
US (1) US5975838A (da)
EP (1) EP0806899B1 (da)
AU (1) AU1704895A (da)
DE (1) DE69508969T2 (da)
DK (1) DK0806899T3 (da)
WO (1) WO1996022697A1 (da)

Cited By (1)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
CN102626174A (zh) * 2012-03-19 2012-08-08 广东展翠食品股份有限公司 不规则插棒机及其插棒方法

Families Citing this family (6)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
AU7280096A (en) * 1996-10-25 1998-05-22 Ntc Engineering Aps Arrangement, device and method for handling sticks in an apparatus for inserting sticks in ice-cream bodies
DK176572B1 (da) * 2004-10-21 2008-09-22 Gram Equipment As Anordning til fremföring af pinde i et apparat til indsætning af pinde i iskremlegemer
DK177927B1 (en) * 2013-04-05 2015-01-12 Tetra Laval Holdings & Finance Stick inserter with electromagnetic drive system
CN104692134B (zh) * 2015-03-10 2016-08-10 灵山县石塘镇才艺食品机械厂 月饼糕点自动排盘机
DK179834B1 (da) 2018-06-21 2019-07-26 Gram Equipment A/S Pindiskyder for iscremeprodukter og fremgangsmåde til at indskyde en pind i iscremeprodukter
DK4018837T3 (da) * 2020-12-28 2024-12-16 Tetra Laval Holdings & Finance Apparat til håndtering af pinde, iscremeproduktionssystem og fremgangsmåde til fremstilling af iscreme

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Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US1953506A (en) * 1931-02-17 1934-04-03 Schnaier Milton Art of feeding and positioning articles
US2684161A (en) * 1950-02-17 1954-07-20 Schulze And Burch Biscuit Comp Material counting and stacking apparatus
US2878962A (en) * 1955-08-05 1959-03-24 American Tobacco Co Mechanical feeder
US3221673A (en) * 1963-07-12 1965-12-07 Shelly Brothers Inc Stick inserting mechanism
US3478703A (en) * 1967-12-11 1969-11-18 Diamond Int Corp Stick inserter for confection machine
DK149731C (da) * 1975-06-25 1989-01-16 Stormax Aps Apparat til isaetning af pinde i iscremelegemer
US4130936A (en) * 1977-08-11 1978-12-26 Champion International Corporation Stick handling and inserting method and apparatus
DD141609A1 (de) * 1979-03-08 1980-05-14 Eckhard Braeuer Vorrichtung zum herstellen von stielbonbons
US4323336A (en) * 1980-05-05 1982-04-06 Fmc Corporation Inserting sticks into confections
DK171493B1 (da) * 1986-04-21 1996-12-02 Ntc Engineering Aps Mekanisme til overføring af pinde fra et magasin til en medbringer, samt apparat med en sådan mekanisme til isætning af pinde i iscremelegemer
DK167836B1 (da) * 1988-12-02 1993-12-27 Stormax Int As Apparat til isaetning af pinde i iscremelegemer
DE4331065A1 (de) * 1992-10-14 1994-04-21 Sig Schweiz Industrieges Einrichtung zum Vereinzeln mehrerer Stränge flach aufeinanderliegender, scheibenförmiger Gegenstände, insbesondere Biscuits

Cited By (1)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
CN102626174A (zh) * 2012-03-19 2012-08-08 广东展翠食品股份有限公司 不规则插棒机及其插棒方法

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
US5975838A (en) 1999-11-02
EP0806899A1 (en) 1997-11-19
DK0806899T3 (da) 2000-07-17
DE69508969T2 (de) 1999-11-11
DE69508969D1 (de) 1999-05-12
AU1704895A (en) 1996-08-14
WO1996022697A1 (en) 1996-08-01

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